Comments by dr. Glenn williams. Our first paper is by tom long, who is an assistant professor and coordinator of history in the department of George Washington university. He joined the u. S. Navy. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1970 in practice Corporate Banking law until he retired. Afterwards, he went back and got a phd in history from George Washington university. He teaches courses in early American History, constitutional history, military and naval history, and today he is going to offer you a paper. Water, water everywhere logistics of the 1975 17751776 campaign. Professor long is a pleasure to be here with you today. Im going to do this a little awkward. Before dawn in 1775, john murray, the fourth earl of dunmore was forced by rebellious virginians to abandon the capital in williamsburg and flee with his family. He fled to the protection of the British Royal navy. The Chesapeake Bay watershed, his territory, was critical to the war effort. The American Revolution interrupted in april of 1775. Virginia was the most populous and profitable of all the colonies in british north america. It was arguably the most important strategically as well. The value of the average annual export of tobacco from virginia exceeded 750,000 pounds. Grain exports was over 200,000 pounds. Together, they combined for 37 of all the exports from the continental colonies in north america. After august 1776 despite a bridge blockade, they exported tobacco to the west indies in exchange for you nations. Economic historian exchange for munitions. Economic historians have suggested that the revolution might not have been one without that muchmaligned staple, tobacco. The geography of the chesapeake a region largely dictated the strategy britain would need to control the area. The bay is the largest tributary in the united states, stretching 195 myers to its northernmost miles to its northernmost reach in the chesapeakes. It was the Perfect Place to harbor large ships. There are two great ironies about the ubiquitous water of the chesapeake region. First, although these were major thoroughfares for everyone in the region, they were almost enormous obstacles for any military force trying to move through the area that did not have naval support. Although they delivered fast quantities of fresh water, british worships were constantly short of potable water. Historian jeremy black has suggested that a serious Maritime Strategy vigorously pursued it might have led to a different conclusion in the revolution. It is arguable that seaboard strategy and concentration on efforts of any control of blockading the rest of the coast was the most sensible one for them to pursue. They would avoid two of their principal difficulties. Logistics and the problem that they could not fight in the interior. He knowledge that america could not have been conquered by a Maritime Strategy, but it is necessary to consider the possibility that the american conflict would have ended as many of the other wars did, with a compromised piece. As early as 1774, british leaders advocated such a strategy. Virginia became radicalized in 1774. Lord dunmore, on the 24th of december, wrote a letter to london calling for a close blockade imposed by a strong and flexible naval force in the chesapeake area the port should be blocked up in their communication cut off by water, even with the neighboring colonies. No vessel should approach any port in virginia. The british needed small warships in order to dominate littoral waters of the colony but they did not have the infrastructure necessary to some or chesapeake. When the enemy with the french or spanish fleet, they could rely on water and repair facilities from the colonies. The colonies became the enemy. Their ability to keep ships on station for long periods became highly problematic. When dunmore fled the governors palace, the hms macklin sailed down and around yorktown, where dunmore went aboard hms boeing, anchored off yorktown. On the ninth of june, dunmore was a governor without a colony. He was forced to wage a campaign to reassert his authority. The hms otter. The line drawings are the original drawings from the National Maritime museum in greenwich, or they have the ships drawings. She was commanded by matthew squire. She becomes a major player in the battle of the chesapeake dunmore not the only naval force in the chesapeake. George colyer became the commander of British Forces in america on the fourth of april, 1779. He recognizes the wisdom of the dunmore and jeremy black plan. He was not the only one. The British Government had concluded that war in america should be reduced to a maritime, concentrating the resources on the rebel support, resulting in a conflict which weariness might then draw both sides towards a compromise. When, or Colyer Commodore colyer immediately advocated in attack, he met with general clinton and they planned an attack. Colyer and Brigadier General matthew launched an attack against rebels in the massachusetts the area. Colyer intended to and the rebellion by shutting up the navigation of the chesapeake. When in virginia, colyer used warships to wreak havoc in the area. He quickly became convinced that the operation should not be merely a rate as clinton and matthew wanted, but an occupation resulting in the establishment of a naval base in the area. He wrote clinton urging that his forces should remain and be reinforced, arguing that the shipyard was the most considerable in america and that it could serve as the hub of a strategic position and easily defended major naval base. Adhering to their rating strategy, general matthew would not even wait for a reply from clinton to colyers request. He sailed out after 24 days in the bay. Secretary of state lord george germane endorsed the strategy. The secretary recommended, the way they do, that clinton establish a permanent facility in portsmouth and conduct an active campaign in the chesapeake. Clinton was unwilling to commit expensive forces to the chesapeake area in 1780 he sent Major GeneralAlexander Leslie to lead innovation of the chesapeake. The fleet is supporting the army. They are not initiating strategy. They are not taking strategic operation. Leslie took the fleet and went to charleston to aid cornwallis in his campaign and the carolinas. When germane learned that clinton had again failed to establish a base in the chesapeake, he wrote the general a scathing letter. He asserted the king had commanded him that you carry out the chesapeake project when the Kings Service require it. When hostilities had broken out in massachusetts in 1775, the British Royal navy was one of the most military powerful military forces in history, if not the most powerful. They have 131 ships of the line. They had a massive industrial complex, infrastructure, if you will. It was composed of dockyards needed to support the bluewater war in european waters. Warships in the age of sail were intended to be selfsufficient for several months. Drinking water was a serious problem in areas like virginia, where it is hot in the summer. Water would foul in a short amount of time. Access to Drinking Water was important, as water from many of the rivers was stagnant and not safe for drinking. The only maybe dockyards in the area were at halifax, nova scotia, 700 miles to the or, or the English Harbor of antigua 400 miles to the south. Before the outbreak of hostilities before the outbreak of hostilities, royal navies in the chesapeake could avail themselves of plentiful local sources of food and water. Norfolk had a population of six and 6000 people and was home to 6006000 606,000 people. More than 3000 of those people signed loyalty oath to the British Government. The local citizenry would deliver to the fleet at their peril. John shaw was attacked and nearly tarred and feathered by a rebel mob. The navy would get a few provisions from the region after that. The seven small ships the ploy by dunmore deployed by dunmore were the ships called for by colyer and his colleagues. They ranged inside from the little schooner hms magdalen to the 44 guns. The otter, also 14 guns, was one of the most active ships. Her design called for a complement of 125 men, including ships crew and her marines. Her story is illustrative of the problems. The ship log provides insights into life aboard a small ship and logistical problems. She carried just 83 sailors and officers and 13 marines. Even a ship as small as the otter required a steady flow of food, ammunition, and fresh water. The navy had no establishment to provide such facilities in the chesapeake. In the three weeks in which he sailed from boston to virginia, the otter took on water on five separate occasions. She arrived as dunmore was fleeing and became immediately heavily involved. She attacked rebel shipping. The captured several prizes. She participated in numerous raids on rebel outposts. In october 1775, while based in the Elizabeth River, she was constantly in search of fresh water for her crew. The day she arrived at anchor, she sent for water. It reflects that water was received on board on 21 days during the month, and that on three others her crew was sent to look for water. Being able to do with loyalists may provisioning easier than that it would become later. The ship also received fresh beef six times between the 21st 10 31st from october. Provisioning of water was a constant occupation, but not yet extremely difficult. On the ninth of december, dunmores forces were defeated in the battle of break ridge. The norfolk loyalists who professed loyalty to the governor were forced to flee. 90 ships in the Elizabeth River became consumers of water and provision instead of suppliers. Not only did it neutralize, but it compounded the problem. In addition, getting water became extremely risky. The otter toted down the Elizabeth River to their water point. They anchored. At 10 00 the next morning, rebels fired at the boats going up the river for water. The ship fired two of her six founders, which made them scatter. I imagine it did. When the rebels disregarded in order to move away from the waterfront issued by the hms liverpool, that had just arrived, they opened fire. Otter participated in the attack on norfolk and the fire that resulted completely destroyed the largest city in virginia and her major port. Otter remained in the norfolk area, usually using her tenders to attack the rebels. Conditions deteriorated on the ship rapidly. The situation was much worse than it had been in october. On the first of february, otters men fired on rebels from the ship and when they dispersed, captain squire sent a party on short as a forging unit. Conditions were terrible. They were met with strong gales and hail, snow, and sleep. He sent them a short six days later. They were attacked. The marines were captured and taken prisoner. The ship received the water only six times in october only six times. 21 times in october. Not much fanfare. That is not much deal. Cause of death, generally not listed. It appears that the cause of death was most frequently exhaustion and disease. The ninth of or 1776, he found the ship and dangerously weakened condition. Apart from manning her tenders, the otter could not muster more than 20 men for duty. The entire fleet had less than four weeks supply of meat and eight of bread. He ordered water to conduct a raid on baltimore. Before he could do it, the lower entry on logbook, roebuck had to send over a lieutenant, a midshipman, 18 seamen, and 10 marines. She captured five prizes and conducted reconnaissance. They wind up evacuating up the bay. Hammond tells dunmore to leave the norfolk area and evacuate up to quinns island because they are told there is a good harbor there and there is plenty of fresh water. They arrived. The day they arrived, sailors on the island sent 270 pounds of fresh beef above hms boeing. On the seventh of june, foy sent 11 men ashore to dig a well to provide fresh water for everyone. The summer heat became too oppressive. In the matter of a month, the well went dry. They run out of water. They are forced to abandon quinns island. This is a drawing Thomas Jefferson made of quinn island. They move from quinns island to the Potomac River at st. Georges island. They get to st. Georges. They need to conduct one more operation before they could even consider evacuating the bay, which is what they are planning to do. Hammond has advised dunmore that they need to leave the bay altogether. He sales with roebuck all the way up the potomac as far as quantico, where he was able to fill caps for the entire fleet. They then sailed out of the chesapeake. The otter was the first to leave. She sailed out on the fourth of august, 1976 1776. The next day, boeing sailed out bound for england. On the seventh, roebuck sailed out carrying lord dunmore. After 1776, the british tried to maintain a distant blockade. Boeing came back. She could remain onshore a brief time before she too ran out of water in her salience and her sailors were exhausted. She had to abandon her blockading and sale on the seventh of november. Lacking water provisions and repair facilities, the crews were exhausted. It is clear that without a facility that could provide support within the region, the small ships needed for a literal campaign of that sort could not function. No one could say for certain what would have happened had the british actually established secure basis. We do know that while dunmores fleet was in the bay, little commerce was able to escape. After they left, trade flourished, enabling the colonies to finance the entire war. The siege at yorktown might have ended differently if the british fleet was based there. It is possible that a compromise solution contemplated by the British Government after the french had entered the war and suggested by jeremy black might have resulted from such a stalemate in the chesapeake. In any case, it is clear that the vital importance of logistics in a remote amphibious campaign of this sort is absolutely demonstrable and demonstrated by the British Campaign here as personified by the experience of hms otter. Thank you. [applause] professor smith thank you very much, tom. Our second presentation is by michael crawford, who holds a doctor in American History from boston university. He has taught at Texas Tech University and he served a fellowship in the editing of Historical Documents at the adams papers at the massachusetts historical society. Before joining the staff of the historical center. He is a specialist in the navy as well as in american religious history. Dr. Crawford has written or edited 15 books, including volumes in the awardwinning series naval documents in the American Revolution. In 2008, the board of directors of thess Constitution Museum bestowed upon him the Samuel Eliot Morrison award of recognition of scholarship and contribution to maritime history. Since 2008, dr. Crawford has been the Senior Historian at the naval history and heritage command. Today, his presentation is going to be entitled supply of the french fleet and north america in 1778. Dr. Crawford thank you, gene. French squadron of 12 ships of the line, four frigates, carrying 1000 soldiers, right on the coast of north america on the fifth of july, 1778, and it left the coast to sailed for the west indies on fourth of november. This essay is going to answer a simple question about this expedition. How did he feet his men while he was in how did he feed his men while he was in north america . A simple question. The answer to the simple question is they planned to repair vision the fleet with the help of Continental Congress. What did the fleet need . They had an aid prepare a detailed list of provisions. We dont have that list but it was summarized as meet or fish in place of salt provisions, preserved vegetables, and bricks for constructing an oven. One the fleet arrived at boston at the end of august, he had a schedule for a three month time and gave it to the continental Major General. The schedule called for more than one Million Pounds of flour, a similar amount of beans, 40,000 kilograms of fish, mustard, and 729 cords for wood. At one pound a day per man for 10,000 men, this would suffice for 100 days. By the time the fleet made landfall on the seventh of july, it was short of fresh water and when it arrived on newport in late july, it had only 20 days of vigils. Before the french took up the challenge, the british faced the same challenge. The outbreak of hostilities and the british army had no supplies and stockpiled in north america and the british planners expected the requirement of supplies from europe would be temporary. They realize that would have to continue indefinitely. In consequence, the British Authority transferred responsibility for transporting from contractors to the treasury department. Procuring provisions proved a challenge for all armed forces in america. Nowhere more so than in new england. In the 18th century, bread was more abundant in pennsylvania than new england. By the outbreak of the revolutionary war, new england was more dependent on importation of flour, posing challenges. Wheat shortages in new england were acute enough that various states competed and imposed embargos on exports. Congress ladenburg against exportation of the long list of provisions. In september, congress acted to facilitate the flow of foodstuffs to were the shortages were creating hardships. The british had evacuated philad